Uploaded January 2018 | Updated September 2026, 18 minutes ago
SARS. Bird flu. Ebola. Zika. Outbreaks of new or re-emerging diseases keep coming, and science, society and the media always seem to be caught off guard. This session, presented in San Francisco, CA, on Oct. 27, 2017 as part of the 10th World Conference of Science Journalists, was organized by the Association of Health Care Journalists.
Panelists explored the causes of the dramatic rise in infectious disease outbreaks—from ecological disruption and booming travel to human behavior and the advent of the megacity. They discussed what may be in store in the years ahead, including the growing risk of bioterrorist events like the 2001 anthrax attacks that paralyzed the U.S. East Coast. Finally, they asked whether the world is better prepared now than a decade ago, examined the challenges that journalists face during disease outbreaks, and evaluated how the media have done in the recent past.
SARS. Bird flu. Ebola. Zika. Outbreaks of new or re-emerging diseases keep coming, and science, society and the media always seem to be caught off guard. This session, presented in San Francisco, CA, on Oct. 27, 2017 as part of the 10th World Conference of Science Journalists, was organized by the Association of Health Care Journalists.
Panelists explored the causes of the dramatic rise in infectious disease outbreaks—from ecological disruption and booming travel to human behavior and the advent of the megacity. They discussed what may be in store in the years ahead, including the growing risk of bioterrorist events like the 2001 anthrax attacks that paralyzed the U.S. East Coast. Finally, they asked whether the world is better prepared now than a decade ago, examined the challenges that journalists face during disease outbreaks, and evaluated how the media have done in the recent past.
